


Don't Go Changing

by travels_in_time



Category: NCIS
Genre: Comment Fic, M/M, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:59:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8389897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/travels_in_time/pseuds/travels_in_time
Summary: For the LJ "Comment_Fic" community.  
Theme: shapeshifters.Prompt: NCIS, someone on the team is a shifter.Spoilers: It's Tony.





	

"Why didn't I know about this?"

Tony ducked his head sheepishly. "Um…because I didn't tell you?" He winced as the smack connected with the back of his head. "It didn't seem…relevant."

"Not relevant?" Gibbs stared at him incredulously. "You turn into an entirely different person, and you think that's not relevant?"

"I don't turn into anyone else," Tony argued. "I just look like them. Still me on the inside. Much as it might be nice to be someone else sometimes." He sighed. "And it's not nearly as useful as you'd think. You're thinking undercover work, right? Backup, surveillance--someone's going to notice. For anything else, I'd have to tell the team so I wouldn't accidentally get shot, and once I start telling, where do I stop? You know what would happen if anyone official found out? It would be like that scene in E.T., where the whole house is sealed off and the government agents take over and the doctors come in to do all the experiments and--"

"I get it, DiNozzo," Gibbs cut him off. "So what do you use it for?"

Tony shrugged. "Don't much, anymore." He leaned closer conspiratorially. "Came in real handy back in college, though. Lot of people have a type, you know? I could be any type at all. Fulfill everyone's fantasies."

"Uh-huh." Gibbs gave him a thorough once-over, and Tony fidgeted a bit under that intense scrutiny. "This even what you really look like?"

"Sorry, Boss." Tony spread his hands apologetically. "What you see is what you get. Too much work to keep up a different appearance for this long." Gibbs grunted, but as usual, Tony didn't know when to stop. "Actually, that's kind of flattering now that I think about it. You think if I could look like anything I wanted, permanently, this is what I'd choose?" He cocked his head, grinning. "You think I'm gorgeous," he singsonged. "You want to date me." He backpedaled as Gibbs' glare reached epic proportions. "It's a quote, it's Sandra Bullock in _Miss_ \--"

"Don't care, DiNozzo!" 

"Shutting up, Boss." 

There was silence for a moment before Gibbs said quietly, "I get why you never told the team. But why didn't you tell _me_?" 

His tone was different now, and Tony winced, turning away. Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Tony."

Tony took a deep breath, bracing himself. "Gibbs--I can look like _anybody_."

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, I got that."

Tony's eyes were searching his now, waiting for him to catch on to something that was just out of Gibbs' reach. "Anybody at all. They don't have to be male." He waited; when Gibbs didn't respond, he added, so quietly that Gibbs had to lean in closer to hear him, "They don't have to be--alive." 

Gibbs' hand tightened on his shoulder unconsciously, and Tony closed his eyes. Gibbs swallowed, needing a moment to find words. Finally he managed, his voice rough. "You thought I might want--"

"I don't know. I didn't--" Tony was staring at the ground now; all Gibbs could see was those long lashes. "But…people do. People want what they can't have, and you--but if that's what you needed, if you wanted--"

"No." At the sharpness in Gibbs' tone, Tony's gaze came up, startled, to meet his. "You're not replacing her."

That had come out wrong, he knew it the moment he'd said it, and he watched as something crumbled behind Tony's eyes. "I know, Boss, I couldn't, that's not what I--"

"Tried that already," he cut in. Inwardly he cursed everyone who'd ever put that vulnerability in Tony's eyes; everyone who'd ever wanted him to be somebody else, and ultimately rejected him because of who he really was. "Didn't work."

"I know." Tony was tensed up, ready to bolt. "I didn't mean--"

Gibbs stepped closer, moved the hand on Tony's shoulder up to cup the back of his head, a touch that he knew never failed to calm him. Actions were his strong suit. He wasn't good with words, never had been. Fortunately Tony was an expert at reading between the lines of the few he could generally manage. "You're with me, DiNozzo."

Tony straightened automatically at the familiar words, ready to follow, but Gibbs held him still. "Tony," he said deliberately, holding his gaze. "You're with me."

Slowly, minutely, Tony relaxed in his hold. "Yeah, okay. I gotcha, Boss." 

Tony's eyes were calm now, and brightening even as Gibbs watched, and he waited, because Tony wouldn't be Tony if he didn't cross the lines. "You know, Boss, I can control the whole thing. Change just certain details." 

"DiNozzo," he said warningly.

"You sure you wouldn't want me to be a redhead occasionally? Because-- _ow_!"


End file.
